The Cold Fusion segment on 60 Minutes.
Michael McKubre is an electro-chemist who imagines, in 20 years, the creation of a clean nuclear battery. “For example, a laptop would come pre-charged with all of the energy that you would ever intend to use. You’re now decoupled from your charger and the wall socket,” he explained. (first third)
Richard Garwin worked on the hydrogen bomb and is prominent critic. He wants 100% reliability and producibility. (second third. reviewing the past and the criticism)
Rob Duncan, vice chancellor of research at the University of Missouri and an expert in measuring energy independently reviewed the work. It appears he went to the Energetics Technology lab in Israel. He doubted Cold Fusion when he was invited to review but came away believing that the effect is real but not understood in detail.
“If you ask me, is this going to have any impact on our energy policy, it’s impossible to say, because we don’t fundamentally understand the process yet. But to say, because we don’t fundamentally understand the process and that’s why we’re not going to study it, is like saying, ‘I’m too sick to go to the doctor,'” Duncan argued.
Martin Fleischmann, one of the original scientists who discovered cold fusion twenty years ago, was interviewed to close the piece.
FURTHER READING
So what has changed over the last twenty years ?
There are more detections of various nuclear reaction products like neutrons.
There is more reliability in the tests. 70-80% consistency of getting some results.
Nanoparticles and thin films begin reactions without delays for loading to critical levels.
There is more understanding of the elements of the tests that can lead to failed tests. The quality of the palladium at the nano-scale.
Some say it does not look like regular nuclear fusion in a tokomak. Why should it look like nuclear reactions in a diffuse plasma when they are new reactions in a condensed solid ?
Brian Wang is a Futurist Thought Leader and a popular Science blogger with 1 million readers per month. His blog Nextbigfuture.com is ranked #1 Science News Blog. It covers many disruptive technology and trends including Space, Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, Medicine, Anti-aging Biotechnology, and Nanotechnology.
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